About

Interesting Writing Done Well

Good writing is good writing regardless of genre.

Grand Central Depot in 1892

Grand Central Review takes its name from the main transportation hub in New York City that connects the city with the rest of the nation and the world. We hope our website will similarly bring together writers from all genres and styles in a celebration of quality writing for its own sake. At Grand Central Review, we believe that good writing is good writing regardless of genre, so that is what we publish: interesting writing done well. We encourage the submission of literary work, genre pieces, traditional forms, or experimental writing. In short, we will not reject work simply because it “doesn’t fit our needs.” Our needs are simple: We publish the best poetry, prose, and art we can find.

Submissions

To submit a story, review, artwork, or other idea to Grand Central Review please use the contact form at the bottom of this page.

Richard Monaco (Founding Editor)

Richard Monaco is known, maybe best, for the Parsival novels published between 1977 and 2012, two of which were Pulitzer Prize finalists. Like many artists he’s worn many hats. Apart from very odd jobs: NYC cab driver, repo man in training in Queens, dishwasher at the Cafe Figaro in Greenwich Village, gas-pumper, warehouse toter and briefly a Mad Man. Richard had a high-end gig helping to direct and write material for the slightly snooty Group for Contemporary Music at Columbia University while studying musical composition. Was a founding editor of a national student newspaper and New York Poetry magazine. Did editorial and sold ads. Had a radio talk show for years based on his textbook The Logic of Poetry. Taught and lectured in many colleges and universities. Made a living writing screenplays for a time. Had some stage-plays produced Off-Broadway. After the novels came out, he married his editor and with her founded a NYC Literary Agency in 1979. Was briefly involved in politics as chief fund-raiser for a mayoral campaign and hosted the first visit of a sitting VPOTUS to Westchester County, NY. About then ended up as GM for a doomed Minor League baseball team, against reason and his will. As part of a concealed literary project he got so close to major organized crime figures he was investigated by the DEA until they discovered he was an author and was training as a PI with a top investigator. Heads were shaken with disgust. Studied, taught and practiced astrology since 1971. Still writing now, of course; working on new novels and memoirs. Not a particularly dull life, all in all. Richard passed away in the summer of 2017 after a long battle with cancer, but he lives on in spirit. He lived in NYC on a rooftop with dog, cat and wife. You can purchase Monaco’s books at fine bookstores and Amazon.

Leverett Butts (Founding and General Content Editor)

Leverett Butts, our content editor, only eats raw fruits and vegetables that have voluntarily given up their lives for humanity. Or a good juicy steak. Lev is a book doctor who once lived on a roof overlooking the Hudson River before a cold winter sent him running back to the South. His first collection of short stories, Emily’s Stitches: The Confessions of Thomas Calloway and Other Stories was nominated for the 2013 Georgia Author of the Year Award, and his novella, Guns of the Waste Land I: Departure won the 2010 TAG Publishing “Great American Novel” Contest along with Scott Thompson’s novel, Young Men Shall See. When he isn’t camping in frozen Northern Metropolises, he can be found writing or reading (never ever playing video games or watching television) in rural Georgia where he lives with his wife, son, and their Jack Russell Terrier, Lucky, or tilting windmills at the Gainesville campus of the University of North Georgia, where he teaches English and tutors Pig Latin. His work is available anywhere books are sold or at Amazon.

Scott Thompson (Founding and General Content Editor)

Scott really wants to know where his door went. He spends a lot of time trying to figure things out, and that’s what led him to writing, art, and finally, this website. His favorite poem is “A Rolling Stone” by Robert W. Service. In this poem of freedom and exploration, Service writes, “I want to see it all,” and that sums of Scott’s life: He wants to see and do everything. This seeking has brought him to more than a few adventures where he’s learned about life. But what he’s discovered the most is that the more he learns, the more he finds that he doesn’t know very much. So, again, this website is an exploration. It’s through art, whether that be writing, painting, or photography, that he explores with his fellow seekers truth, life, and love. Or sometimes, nothing more than the simple and hidden beauty that is all around us. Scott truly believes that God offers us glimpses into Heaven almost daily if we’ll take the time to look.

Scott’s next novel, Eight Days, is now available from French Press Bookworks.

Joseph Milford (Poetry Editor)

Joseph Victor Milford finds it tough to type his many fiction, blog, and poetry projects because of the pain in his fingers from playing too much acoustic guitar. He has been a college professor for well over a decade, and he has tried his hand as a baker, a line cook, a warehouse worker, a freelance writer, a ghost writer, and a basic vagabond as well. Milford’s first collection of poems, Cracked Altimeter, was published by BlazeVox press in 2010, and his most recent collection of poems, Tattered Scrolls and Postulates, was recently released by Backlash Press in 2017. His poems have appeared in 100’s of journals, online and in print, and he is the editor of RASPUTIN: A Poetry Thread, which is an online poetry journal/blog. He is addicted to indie rock and Thai food, which actually accompany one another quite well.